To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
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By William May
iJapan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
Fwmay52@hotmail.comj
January wrestling news
YOSHIDA RETURNS TO PRACTICE AFTER WORLD CUP LOSS
NAGOYA (January 25) - Saori Yoshida, who had her winning streak of 119
snapped at the World Cup meet in China, returned to practice at the Chukyo
Womenfs University. gI received support and encouragement from a lot of
people (this past week). I want to think of this loss as a loss that will
get me the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics,h Yoshida told reporters
at the CWU wrestling dojo.
After returning to Japan, Yoshidafs father, Eikatsu, ordered her home where
she could play with the children at his wrestling school, do some training
and get back in touch with roots. gI was thinking that I must be a model
(to these kids). Itfs no good if I just mope around after just one loss,h
Yoshida said.
After the loss, Yoshida has been surrounded by the kind words of friends
and rivals alike. The first voice she heard after her stunning defeat was
from rival Hiromi Sakamoto. gIf you win the gold medal in Beijing, (this
loss) is okay, isnft it?h Sakamoto told Yoshida at the gymnasium in Taiyuan,
China where the World Cup was being held. Sakamoto, the reigning world
champion at 51 kg, attempted to unseat Yoshida at 55 kg in Japan with the
hopes of getting a chance to wrestle in the Olympics, but came up short.
Seiko Yamamoto, Yoshidafs rival before the Athens Olympics, also sent an
email of support to Yoshida after the Japanese team returned from the World
Cup. In fact, letters and emails poured in to Yoshida, her employer and
CWU. gI never knew that I had so many supporters. I have to do even better
now,h Yoshida explained.
As for the counters that led to Yoshidafs 1-4, 2-2 loss to American Marcie Van Dusen, Yoshida said gDuring the match, I was not happy (with the decision), but right now, thatfs the end of it.h
gI think other opponents now are going to try counter-wrestling against
me. The rules seem to favor this kind of counter-wrestling, so I will have
to attack with takedowns that canft be countered.h At the CWU dojo, Yoshidafs
father remarked gA winning streak will be stopped some time. Just look
at (Alexander) Karelin.h gAfter about 60 wins in a row, I told (Saori)
that itfs important just to focus at one match at a time. But now that
she has lost, I told her that therefs no reason to mope about it.h
At the entrance of the CWU dojo, head coach Kazuhito Sakae posted the front
page of the Sports Hochi newspaper which made news of Yoshidafs loss the
top story. gI donft want her to forget the pain of losing,h Sakae said.
But, Yoshida herself hung the bronze medal from the World Cup in her room,
so she will see it every day. As the practice session got under way, Yoshida
got to work quickly correcting her body position on her attacks in order
to prevent being countered in the future.
VIDEO OF WORLD CUP MATCHES POSTED ON WEBSITE
TOKYO (January 28) - The Japan Wrestling Federation homepage, with the cooperation of Nihon Television, has posted video highlights of the 2008 World Cup of womenfs wrestling, including Saori Yoshidafs first loss in 115 international matches.
The video can be found at http://jwf2007.kir.jp/VTR/2008worldcup/top.html.
Or, interested wrestling fans can go to the JWF website at http://www.japan-wrestling.jp/ and then click on VTR on the front page, and then the top photo on the
video menu.
COLLEGIATE SELECT SQUAD TO DAVE SCHULTZ MEMORIAL
TOKYO (January 24) - Japan will send a squad of collegiate all-stars to compete in the Dave Schultz Memorial international wrestling tournament February 7-11 in Colorado Springs.
The squad will include a number of collegiate national champions from last
year, some wrestlers recommended by the Japan Wrestling Federation and
a handful of wrestlers who will be paying their own way. The Japanese team,
led by Minami Kyushu University head coach Morimasa Nishimura, will leave
February 5 and return February 13.
The roster of the Japanese squad include:
Freestyle
55 kg - Yasuhiro Inaba (Senshu), Yohei Fujimoto (Waseda), Yasuhiro Morita (Nippon Sports Science University)
60 kg - Teppei Monya (Nihon), Kaoru Anzawa (Wa)
66 kg - Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu (Takushoku)
74 kg - Aoi Otsuki (Wa)
84 kg - Junki Monma (NSSU)
96 kg - Kenji Fujimoto (Taku)
120 kg - Atsushi Nakamura (Taku)
Greco-roman
55 kg - Ryo Minemura (Kanagawa)
60 kg - Kazuma Kuramoto (Yamanashi Gakuin), Yuji Okamoto (Taku)
66 kg - Kohei Fujimoto (Taku)
74 kg - Soichi Tanaka (NSSU), Keita Ito (Taku)
84 kg - Yuko Kuniguchi (NSSU)
96 kg - Katsuya Kitamura (Sen)
120 kg - Ryuta Kawano (Aoyama Gakuin)
MASTERS FINALISTS ADD UP TO 150 YEARS IN AGE
TOKYO (January 20) - More than 100 wrestlers took part in the 7th All-Japan
Masters Wrestling Championships at the Olympic Memorial Youth Center in
Tokyo.
The highlight of the competition came in the Division E final (older than
65 years old in which former Nihon University star Noboru Takahashi (68
years old) edged Katsuyohi Yonemori, the tourneyfs most senior grappler
at 82. Takahashi slipped out of a third-period clinch to defeat the octogenarian,
an alum of Chuo University, 2-1 for the 60 kg title.
In Division C for wrestlers 51-60, 1981 world champion and Kokushikan University head coach Toshio Asakura won the 60 kg crown.
JAPAN GR SQUAD TO TRAIN, WRESTLE IN HUNGARY
TOKYO (January 16) - Japan will send a squad of Olympic greco-roman hopefuls
to train in Hungary the second half of February with a handful of wrestlers
set to compete in the March 1-2 Golden Grand Prix meet in Szombathely,
Hungary. World silver medalist Makoto Sasamoto (60 kg) and Olympic qualifier
Kenzo Kato (96) will lead the Japanese squad which departs February 17.
Other members of the squad will be Kohei Hasegawa (55), Yuki Iwasaki (74), Shingo Matsumoto (84), who will stay in Hungary until February 28. Along with Sasamoto and Kato, Tsutomu Fujimura (66) and Tsukasa Tsurimaki (74) will stay until March 4 to take part in the grand prix competition.
Since the grand prix is being held after the greco-roman World Cup meet in Szombathely, it is expected to include some of the worldfs top wrestlers from Russia, Romania, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Hiromichi Ito and Hiroshi Kado will serve as coaches to the Japanese squad.
gA number of our wrestlers lack experience against foreign wrestlers. For
the wrestlers hoping to go to the Olympics, we hope to make them stronger
by training with foreign wrestlers,h Ito said.
MENfS FS, GR HOLD TRAINING CAMP IN TOKYO
TOKYO (January 15) - The Japanese menfs freestyle and greco-roman teams
held their first training camp of the year in preparation for the Asian
championships in Korea in mid-March.
The camp, held at the Japan Sports Science Center in Tokyo, included the top two wrestlers at each weight class, who are seeking a chance to qualify Japan at their weight for the Olympics and take the inside track to Beijing.
The first chance will come at the Asian championships in March when the
top wrestler at each weight not yet qualified for the Olympics will earn
the ticket to Beijing. The national team committee of the Japan Wrestling
Federation will name its squad for the championships based on the results
of wrestling and training the committee members and coaches see in the
camps.
The freestyle training camps will be held February 7-13, February 21-28, and March 5-11. The greco-roman team, will hold training camps in Tokyo February 4-10 and March 7-13, and in Hungary from February 17 to March 4.
JOC RANKS WRESTLING AS GROUP gAh SPORT
TOKYO (January 12) - The Japanese Olympic Committee has ranked wrestling
as a Group A sport for its distribution of financial support for the development
of athletes for the fiscal year 2008.
The JOC accorded the gAh ranking to wrestling on the strength of the Japanese
womenfs chances for gold medals in Beijing, but could not accord the top
designation of gSpecial Ah because of the lack of results in menfs freestyle
and greco-roman. The Special A ranking was given to swimming, judo and
softball, while wrestling, athletics, gymnastics, baseball and skating
were ranked !.
HAMAGUCHI SKIPS WORLD CUP TO FOCUS ON OLYMPIC BID
TOKYO (January 8) - Five-time world champion Kyoko Hamaguchi skipped the womenfs World Cup in Taiyuan, China to focus on the Asian championships in March with a berth in this summerfs Beijing Olympics at stake.
Hamaguchi finished ninth in last yearfs world championships and narrowly
missed qualifying for the Olympics. The top eight finishers at each of
the four Olympic weights for women earned a ticket to Beijing. Hamaguchifs
next chance will be in March at the Asian championships on Koreafs resort
island of Jeju, where she can book a place in Beijing by winning the championship
or finishing ahead of the other women who have not yet qualified.